The (Good) Coalition vs. the (Evil) ISIS

It must be stated the United States is an empire of violence. George Bush and Barack Obama have killed more people that Al Qaeda ever did. The United States assassinates, tortures, mutilates and spreads massive violence and unrest. Just because its methods are (at times) less dramatic in terms of television doesn't mean they are any less violent or spectacular on the ground. Bombs kill people. The United States uses destructive weapons that infect and trouble areas for generations to come. The United States has only helped foster violence and enhanced the weaponization of the region.

This is not a case of good vs. evil. This is evil vs. evil.

This is the Christian interpretation of these events. There's precious little wisdom or truth being given to us in our contemporary commentaries. When we think in terms of the US/NATO standing for good and ISIS as being purely evil then we will misread the situation and our solution will also be flawed.

No one will shed any tears when ISIS is gone but how many Christians will say the same about the United States?

And yet to much of the world it is the United States that is the Evil Empire, the rogue state, the terrorist nation and without doubt is the greatest purveyor of widespread violence and destruction across the face of the earth.

Repent or you shall 'all' likewise perish.

The Cost of Being America's Ally: Turkey's Pakistan Problem

Of course Turkey doesn't want to get involved in Syria. For the first time in a generation Ankara has moved toward peace with the Kurds. The last thing they want to do is jump into Syria, aid Kurdish fighters, earn the wrath of Islamists and further destabilize the border. And that's just for a start, there are plenty of other issues at stake.

America wants them to enter the fight. They'll fight if ISIS crosses the border, but to cross on their own is like slitting their own throat.

ISIS, Jugurtha and Zenobia

Now I've gone over all of this before but perhaps we can utilize some other examples from history to make this a bit more poignant.

In the late 2^nd Century BC the Jugurthine War broke out in North Africa leading Rome to intervene. As far as Rome was concerned this uprising, this rejection of the Roman geopolitical paradigm, constituted a threat to Rome's interest and thus they sent an army to deal with Jugurtha.

There were Jews living in Italy during the late Roman Republic. What was the Jewish response to Jugurtha? What was the response of the Old Covenant Diaspora? Certainly our situation in the New Testament is analogous. We too live in an empire. What were their 'worldview' teachers saying about what the 'Jewish' response should be... for Rome to deal with Jugurtha?

ISIS Considered in Light of the Constantinian Shift

In recent days not a few 'Christian' leaders have called for a more vigorous military engagement on the part of the United States to combat the threat of ISIS.

Truly a monstrous group, how should Christians respond to this? Is it indeed a Christian position to support the escalation of war, bombing and perhaps even a land invasion?

Politics seems to bring the various strands of Christianity together. Protestant and Roman Catholic leaders are united and most seem to insist a war with ISIS falls under the umbrella of Just War Theory.

What of those Christians who reject this theory as flawed and heretical? What of the Christians who reject the Constantinian model that creates a supposedly Christian version of statecraft? How do we respond? Will we dare to suggest that it's not 'Christian' to bomb ISIS?

Social Darwinism and Detroit

I've seen numerous videos on the downfall of Detroit. This one is brief and to the point. I enjoyed the guy by the burn barrel. He knows more about economics than Thomas Sowell does!

The Capitalist system is little more than Social Darwinism and these are the people marked for extinction. They're a mess but they've also been wronged. Just because some of them have turned to bad behaviour doesn't mean the corporate criminals are off the hook.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CrUFZrWQRhE

The End of Paisley

I was enjoying a pleasantly cool and overcast late summer afternoon. As I was scraping the side of an old house back in the woods, the news came over the radio...

Ian Paisley is dead at 88.

These moments always hit me. It will stay with me forever.

Inbox: The Christian Response to ISIS/ISIL?

Q. Your last post was a non-response. What is the Christian position in response to ISIS?

A. There isn't one. At least not a geo-political response.

Looking for a Christian solution to the Middle Eastern situation is like saying...

The remnants of the Achaemenids are rising up and resisting Alexander the Great's installed governments across Central Asia. What's the Jewish or Christian response?

NATO Redivivus

After the fall of the USSR in 1991 everyone wondered would NATO fall apart? What reason did it have to continue? There was no more Soviet bloc or Warsaw Pact.

Ukraine: The Manufactured Crisis and Ground Realities

http://ericmargolis.com/2014/08/what-if-theres-a-real-war-in-ukraine/


As usual, Margolis exhibits a great deal of wisdom and understanding in his analysis of the Ukraine situation. There are some real threats but not in accordance with the information being propagated by both Western news media and American hawks.


The one thing I think he neglected to mention is that if this situation escalates it could lead to fissures within NATO itself. NATO continues to struggle in finding its reason for existence.

Russia and a largely unreported event from 2002

While Putin is hardly a 'good guy' our news is in hyper-spin mode right now. It's madness watching it all unfold. It's surreal as we watch the WWI commemorations taking place at the same time. Whether we're talking about the tensions in Eastern Europe or the wars in Syria and Palestine, we are still haunted by its ghosts.


Apart from a handful of news outlets the whole Russian-Ukrainian crisis is being misrepresented. One of the key ways to do this is to ignore the context.

Iraq and Reflections on the 100 Year Anniversary of 1914...

The collapse of Iraq was long foretold and forewarned by those familiar with the salient issues. In some ways these events are very apropos as we arrive at the 100 year anniversary of the event that sparked World War I.

Newtown and Conspiracy Rules

Continuing in this recent vein it has been brought to my attention that there are some conservatives suggesting that the Obama administration was somehow behind the Newtown or Sandy Hook Massacre.

Revived McCarthyism and Cohn's Hypocrisy

The head of Mozilla has been placed at center-stage in a growing controversy.

Increasingly public figures that have stood against the normalization of homosexuality are being denounced and forced out of their positions. This is happening in the media, academia and even the business world.

A Clue to Common Core

Many believe Common Core represents a clandestine attack or perhaps a set-up for a future attack on Home Schooling. To some it's just a power-grab by the Federal Government.

The Pope, the President and Dispensational Hermeneutics

There's something not a little amusing about seeing pictures of Obama with Francis the Roman Catholic Pope. Conspiracy and so-called Prophecy buffs will be having a field day.

However despite their fears and wary visions of a One World Religion, the truth is these two have little in common.

Even a blind squirrel gets an acorn every once in awhile.....

But in the case of Palin I don't think she really got an acorn. I too used to live in Wasilla Alaska but just living there didn't make me an expert on geopolitics.

Nye vs. Ham

When I first heard Ken Ham would be debating Bill Nye I wasn't very pleased. I feared he would fare poorly and I'm sorry to say I was right. I can't imagine anyone would be overly impressed with his performance.

Selective Memory, Spin, and Possible Impeachment in 2015

Following up on the Pilgrim Path article (Angels of Light...) here's an example of selective memory.

http://news.yahoo.com/rep-paul-broun-back-obama-impeachment-171835906--abc-news-politics.html

Drug Wars- Allies and Enemies in -The Game-

While the United States has long played a controlling and interventionist role in Mexican politics, it seems to have reached new heights with Felipe Calderon's escalation of the Drug War in 2006.

Since then tens of thousands of people have died and as usual the drugs keep coming. However, the Drug War is a massive business in and of itself and it must be asked... do those in power really want it stop?

Gates the Rabshakeh

http://www.npr.org/blogs/thetwo-way/2014/01/13/261419660/gates-obama-made-solid-decisions-but-was-swayed-by-factious-staff

Robert Gates is one of the nexus-players, one of the power brokers who navigate the spheres of power. Secretaries of Defense in particular wield massive multi-tiered influence in transcending the political, military and corporate worlds that make up the plutocratic Oligarchy of American Empire.